Stewardship Sunday
November 11, 2007
Eph 2:8-10
Theme: "Where Does It Begin?"
Today I want you to know that it is not about where it ends. It’s not about the "bottom line". It is quite different for me to say that. It is not something my family is use to hearing either, after all, my father was a corporate accountant for forty years and my brother is a CPA. But, it is not about the bottom line. Stewardship and all of the Christian life is about where it begins not where it ends.
Today, Veteran’s Day, provides us with an illustration of what I mean. We honor the veterans not because of how glorious their career was or how much effect they personally had on history, but because they served and the service of every one of them deserves honor and thanks from this nation. So being a veteran isn’t about what is pinned to their uniforms, it’s about the fact that they wore the uniform. Similarly . . .
Being God’s steward is not about the bottom line.
Stewardship isn’t about meeting the budget.
It didn’t begin when churches made up budgets.
It didn’t begin when they built building.
Stewardship didn’t even begin with the church.
It didn’t begin with the nation of Israel or
With the twelve tribes or the patriarchs.
It began with God.
God gave Adam and Eve stewardship over the earth He had created.
God had called the universe into being by the power of His Word and then on day six He formed Adam and Eve and gave them charge over the animals, birds and fish; indeed over the whole earth.
They were to rule it for Him.
They were God’s managers, His stewards and so are we.
Stewardship began with God creating and giving.
Our stewardship begins with God recreating and giving to us.
It begins where all things in Christianity begins, with God making us new creatures in Christ Jesus His Son.
That is what makes our text a stewardship text.
It all flows from "It is by grace you have been save, through faith and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
It all begins when God recreates us, makes us new in Christ.
He gives us the gracious gift of salvation.
So you see, being God’s steward begins with being God’s.
God made us His when Jesus took our sin on Himself .
This removed the barrier we had erected between us and God.
God then made us His children by creating faith in our heart.
He then gives us a life of good works He has prepared for us to do.
God makes us managers over the life He has given us and all the resources that go with it.
So being God’s steward is a way of life.
Christianity is being God’s steward, His manager of all He has given us.
This includes life, new life, all that we have and all the world.
God has made us managers of His world.
He has also made us managers of His Word.
It is not about the bottom line of sufficient obedience, that is life under the law.
It is about life with a Biblical world view.
We see things as the Bible describes and live as God has prepared for us.
Having made us alive in Christ, God prepared a life of good works, of good stewardship for us to do.
So don’t skimp on the following of God’s plan.
Don’t just think in terms of one good turn or one area of stewardship.
Live all of life God’s way.
So you see again it is not about the bottom line, about meeting the budget, about checking things off the list.
It is not even about the first line item.
First fruits giving is good and right and is the place to start, but it is only a start.
And tithing is good but it is not all.
If you give 10% off the top does that mean you are a good steward? NO
What are you doing with the other 90%.
Are you using it in God pleasing ways?
Or think about time.
Being in church and Bible class is good and as it should be
but what are you doing the rest of the week.
Does it bring glory to God?
And how about your tongue?
Praying and praising God are good use of your voice
but what about the rest of what you say?
Are you a good steward of your tongue?
This is all law and the law can guide us and snap us back into line, but . . .
Being God’s steward is not from the law. It is built on God’s grace.
Grace that saved us to do the works, to live the life, God prepared for us to do.
That is being God’s steward.
So it is not just about our giving, not only about our time, talents and treasures, though these are easiest to track.
It is also about the Gospel, about God’s Word and sacraments.
Stewardship is about reaching out and sharing the gift of God’s grace with those around us.
It’s about making good use of His Word.
Stewardship is about responding to God’s gifts by living all of life so as to bring glory to God’s name.
As God’s workmanship, graciously created in Christ Jesus, we live managing all that God has given us according to the good works God has prepared for us to do. That is stewardship, built on the Gospel, flowing from God’s gracious gift, living out the privilege God has bestowed on us.
Amen.
SDG
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